Nevins would participate in the Bennington fishing derby every year, Sysyn said. “He loved those sorts of things. He liked to go swimming at Pierce Lake.”

Sysyn said he has not yet reached out to Williams Nevins, but has been told the family has asked for privacy at this time to grieve.Lesley McGregor, Bennington resident and librarian at the G.E.P. Dodge Library in Bennington, said her daughter had first heard the news from one of Nevin’s sisters, whom her daughter has remained close to.

“We kept track of him through his sister, what he was doing, what was going on,” McGregor said. “It was very devastating to hear about it because she was very close to her brother ... It was crushing, really horrible news.”

“Everybody’s very sad about it,” she said. “I remember him when he was a little boy going to first grade. He was a tiny little guy, very sweet, very cute child.”

He was one of three soldiers killed at Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with small arms fire in Gardez, Paktia Province, Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.